Ministry of Culture
Department of Commerce holds the Stakeholders’ Outreach Programme on recently concluded India-UAE & India-Australia Trade Agreements
Shri G Kishan Reddy urges exporters from Telangana to take advantage of these
path breaking trade initiatives towards realising the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat
Smt. Anupriya Patel lauds Telangana for creating Export Promotion Councils in districts; urges business community to utilise the access to neo-markets
these trade agreements have opened up
The Department of Commerce, Government of India, in coordination with the Industries and Commerce Department, Government of the State of Telangana held a Stakeholders’ outreach programme in the city today on the recently concluded trade agreements, the India-United Arab Emirates Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement  and the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement . The event aims to create awareness among local industry & exporters from the state of Telangana, particularly from the micro, small & medium enterprises  sector on potential significant benefits that could accrue to them from these landmark agreements. The Pharmaceutical Export Promotion Council, apex industry bodies, export promotion councils, local chambers of commerce and industry participated. The event witnessed participation of over 150 businessmen from the State of Telangana, cutting across industry segments and sectors.
Shri G Kishan Reddy, Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Development of North Eastern Region, who was the Chief Guest at the event, highlighted the various initiatives and reforms being undertaken by the Government of India to further improve the ease of doing business. The significant milestones achieved in the form of the record high annual exports of goods and services in the current year of around US$ 669.6 billion and the successful vaccination drive undertaken by the country showcase the country positively, he said. Stating that presently the overall merchandise exports of Telangana is about 3% of our country’s exports, he underlined the need to maximize the state’s potential by improving the state’s logistics facilities. Citing the the Pradhan Mantri Gati Shakti Master Plan, he said that the Government will develop 100 PM GatiShakti Cargo Terminals for multimodal logistics facilities in the next three years. He called upon the industry leaders to realise the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat of the Prime Minister, highlighting the significant part of exports in this process.
Smt. Anupriya Patel, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry urged the stakeholders in the gathering to unlock the access to the neo markets that the recent game-changer trade agreements UAE and Australia have brought about. Lauding Telangana for its efforts in creating district specific export promotion councils, she said that the state has huge potential to emerge as top exporting hub of the nation considering it’s strengths in sectors like pharmaceuticals, leather, gems & jewellery and electronic goods.
Shri Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Government of Telangana shared a statistical snapshot of Telangana, including an overview of the macroeconomic indicators, external sector performance, and a summary compilation of top goods and services exported from the State.
Earlier, delivering the welcome remarks, Shri Amit Yadav, Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce, provided an overview of the two recently concluded landmark trade agreements, viz., India-UAE CEPA and India-Australia ECTA and succinctly highlighted the benefits that can accrue to the exporters from the State of Telangana.
Shri  Srikar K Reddy, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, delivered a comprehensive presentation, which elaborated on the various aspects of the Trade Agreements and explained in detail the concessions on goods and services exchanged by India with the UAE and Australia, measures incorporated for facilitation of bilateral trade, safeguards that have been placed to protect the Industry, and projected gains in exports, GDP, and employment across various sectors, particularly the labour intensive ones.
As part of the event, two panel discussions were also conducted with participation from Industry representatives. The panelists discussed ways and means of leveraging on the strengths of Telangana, as a leading export hub, and optimizing the gains from the Trade Agreements both in exports of goods and services. Further, industry participants from various sectors such as Engineering, Pharmaceuticals, Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, IT&ITES, Mining & Minerals, Education services, and R&D. Participants at the event exhibited enthusiasm at the prospects of deriving immense benefits from the Trade Agreements and committed to forging newer trade relationships with importers in these partner countries with an objective to increase their market shares across sectors and Industries.
More details of the Agreements can be found on the following official websites.
India-UAE CEPA: https://commerce.gov.in/international-trade/trade-agreements/comprehensive-economic-partnership-agreement-between-the-government-of-the-republic-of-india-and-the-government-of-the-united-arab-emirates-uae/
India-Australia ECTA: https://www.dfat.gov.au/trade/agreements/negotiations/aifta/australia-india-ecta-official-text